Safe or Risky?

The hard part about selecting material to put on this project is this:

I have written several three-minute, basic pop worship songs. They are catchy, memorable, and not bad.

I have also written several less-accessible, but more artistically interesting songs that will probably not resonate with as broad of a scope of people. However, I find them far more interesting.

So do I record songs that will appeal to a broader spectrum of people, and are generally a safer bet? Or do I record songs that I find more interesting, and maybe people won't like as much? Or both? Or neither?

I have made a decision about this question....but what do you think?

Video Blog, 01.25.12

Upcoming EP

It has been said that a song is like a star. If it's in the sky, it shines. But if you don't put it out there, it will never shine.

In that spirit of "putting it out there," I am excited to announce to you my new creative project, a forthcoming EP of original worship music. This is my first solo project, and I'm nervous and excited to share it with you. The three-to-five song EP we're recording will be available for MP3 download in the late spring/early summer [if all goes well].

Along the way, I will be documenting the entire process with you on this blog and on my new Facebook fan page. I am really looking forward to sharing with you the joys and frustrations of bringing this music to life. Hopefully, as I share the process with you, and invite your response, you'll begin to feel a part of this experience. After all, we are all in this life together!

Whether you like the end result or not, it's okay. These are just a few more stars in the sky. Either way, thanks for coming into the journey with me!

Talk to you soon!

Purpose of Worship

An interesting quote from a book I'm reading:

"The transformation of people's lives must be the ultimate goal of worship, as it is for church life generally. I know all the arguments for worship being about glorifying God [whatever that might mean] and for worship to be God-centered. I just don't accept them as the end of the discussion....

A life of words and actions and thoughts that are being transformed is more likely to bring glory to God than the endless singing of love songs to Jesus that bring no transformation. Transformation of the worshipers is the goal of all worship." [The Art of Curating Worship, Mark Pierson]

Do Everything/Do Nothing

There are two types of vacations, and two types of vacationers. The first type I call the Do Everything vacation. Wherever you go, the Do Everything vacationer will plan it all out so that you maximize your time, see and do everything you possibly can, and experience life at your destination to its fullest. You will wake up early, go to bed late, and rush from here to there in order to cram in as much as possible. The Do Nothing vacationer doesn't care where you are, their plan is to do nothing. They will sleep all day, stay in the shower or bathtub forever, read a book, watch a movie, and generally veg out. At the end of this type of vacation, you will have done very little--but you will be rested.

I am a Do Nothing vacationer.

My wife is a Do Everything vacationer.

We usually meet in the middle. We just returned from our annual Do Nothing Vacation in the Smoky Mountains. We join eight other college friends in a fancy cabin in the Smokies, and generally hang out, play video games, eat, talk, read books, scrapbook, whatever. It is my ideal vacation.

This year, we got a little more active. We took a hike for a better part of the afternoon one day, and we played a round of golf on another day. The rest of the time we mostly ate. All in all, it was a great time--but a little more Do Everything than I care for. Next year, I am a committed Do Nothing vacationer.

How about you? Are you a Do Everything, or a Do Nothing vacationer?

Out Next Week!

I'm on vacation next week. So I have a lot going on today to try to tie up loose ends. With that said, this blog post is finished.

Here and Now

One of the most important things in life is enjoying the present moment. I've heard it called the "sacrament of the present moment." There is something sacred and holy about being in the "now", being awake to what is present, and the God who is present in all and through all.

In the present moment, we can hold life gently. We can take it as it comes to us, and appreciate it for the good gift it is. We can slowly become aware of God around us, within us, outside us, holding us, sustaining us.

We can truly be present to others. We can hear others' hearts. We can think. We can create.

All we truly have is THIS. Here. Now. As Jesus said, "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own."

Work v. Play

I struggle to balance the tension between effort and restful service. I believe the best work comes out of the overflow of the heart. However, I believe that we should also give all we have to what it is that we do. I'm in this period of life where I am feeling incredibly motivated to accomplish a lot, to be fruitful, to make a difference. And every once in awhile, I am wondering to myself: Am I being too driven?

I do believe that it is God's power in me that allows me to live and move and have my being. I believe it is Jesus who sustains me breath by breath, moment by moment.

However, I also believe that I will reap what I will sow. I believe that if I put my "talents" to work, and work hard, that the harvest will yield its fruit.

So I struggle with this. I want a healthy balance between work and play, activity and rest, movement and stillness. And right now, I'm not sure if I'm balanced enough. I'll have to sit with that a little longer, I suppose.

Cheat To Win

Today is a day that I am supposed to blog, but I have lots to do right now, and there is no time. So I am fulfilling my duty as a legaliast in writing this post, but also allowing myself to do other things.

Cheat to win.

End of Office

This week I wrap up this 30-day experiment of praying through the daily office. I have not rigorously kept the schedule [three prayers a day]. Usually I would pray at the beginning of the day and at midday. The prayer I most often missed was the evening prayer. I found myself too tired as I prepared for bed to muster the strength to pray.

I discovered that I do like the rhythm of intentionally returning to God to spend some time in prayer. It helped keep me centered, and allowed me to feel the rhythm of life better. However, I usually didn't love the written prayer. It was difficult to pray the words, and not just read them.

So, going forward, I'll probably keep the morning prayers going, using the book as a guide. But at midday, I will probably spend some time in personal prayer or lectio divina-type prayer and reading. That's the plan!

Connectivity

This morning, I was listening to sports talk radio [as I often do]. They were talking about connectivity between a certain player, and the number of wins he accounted for. Essentially, they were saying that this connectivity gave you a good idea of his worth to the organization.

It made me begin to think about connectivity and worth in an organization. Of course, this has real job application. If you're in sales, then your worth is the connection between you and the amount of advertising revenue you generate.

I think there is application in the church as well for staff people. What is the relationship between any staffer, and the amount of good works done by the church, the amount of ministry "produced", or even the amount of people who begin or recommit to a relationship with Christ.

Futhermore, we should all be able to find our worth in God's economy, by measuring the amount of ministry we are doing. The number of good deeds we do, the amount of love we show to neighbors and family, etc. This will give us an idea of what our current worth in God's kingdom. Not our worth as holy and loved people of God, but what value we're bringing to the Kingdom.

Churches might be able to measure their worth in God's kingdom this way as well. What is the connection between our church's existence and local graduation rates, divorce rates, homelessness, hunger, etc. Are we worth much in the community, when measured this way?

It's a bit of a cold and utilitarian approach, but I think it does have some merit.

Mindfulness

Our worship team was recently talking about the concept of beholding, as in beholding God. Holding God and the world in a meditative, receptive gaze. Being fully alive and fully present in our world, moment by moment.

We talked about how incredibly difficult this can be for many of us in our fast-paced society, where instant gratification is the standard. We drive fast, talk fast, walk fast, eat fast, sleep little, and hurry, hurry, hurry through our lives. We blast through our work week, desperately waiting for the weekend, so we can jam pack as much recreation as we can into our schedules. Then we wake up on Monday and do it all over again. This leaves us, as a people, hurried, distracted, and frantic.

This is not the abundant life offered in Jesus.

One of the biggest ways to combat this distracted desperation is the principle of slowing. One might even call it a spiritual discipline. Slowing is an intentional effort to slow down the pace of life, in order to be more present in the moment, to see the God who is in all things, and to hear God's stilll small voice.

I have found that when I do things more slowly [eat, drive, talk, work], I manage to restore sanity to my soul, moment by moment, bit by bit. I feel more human and alive. I am able to approach everything from the overflow of my soul, rather than forcing my work and life through the fumes of exhaustion. I am able to work restfully, play restfully, minister restfully, pray restfully. I begin to see color and smell aroma and breathe again. I begin to see people's innate goodness and beauty, and see the image of God in others.

I'll share some practical ideas on this subject in upcoming blogs.

Reflections on the Daily Office

So I'm about a week into this daily office praying, and so far, it has been going well. Certainly, since the prayers I'm saying are mostly written down, and I'm just praying through them, there is a tendency at times for my mind to wander. Probably no more than when I just pray spontaneously.

There are two things I am enjoying about praying at specific intervals throughout the day. The first is the rhythm. I am enjoying bringing my focus back to God three times a day. Beginning the day and ending the day are especially meaningful to me. It makes the whole day feel more enveloped in God's presence. Also, the return at midday to a focus on God and on my heart, and our relationship, etc. That has been good as well. I'm also finding myself more mindful of God's presence throughout the day, and am therefore communicating with God more frequently during the day. Most of these prayers are sentence prayers, or "flash" prayers, but they are also good for returning my focus to God.

The second things I like about this kind of praying is the priority it takes, if one is going to practice it faithfully. I have to take time out from my morning, my time in the office, and stay up a few minutes longer, in order to pray these prayers. And something about that feels right. I am forced to pray regularly.

All in all, a good first week for praying the daily office.

The Daily Office

I am doing a 30-day experiment. I have read a lot about praying the daily office, and have even done it from time to time, but never for an extended period of time. However, I have decided in the month of August to pray the office every day. For those unfamiliar with the practice, it is essentially periods of prayer [typically about 10-15 minutes] that are set at regular times or intervals throughout the day.

For example, each day, I will pray through scripted morning prayers, midday prayers, and evening prayers. It is a very liturgical approach to prayer, but I think these structures might help me to embrace more rhythm in the spiritual life.

I will not be a stickler about doing the prayers at specific times [although that might be additionally helpful]. Instead, I'll start each day with morning prayers. After lunch [whenever lunch happens], I will have midday prayers. Then before bed each night, I will pray my evening prayers.

The resource I am using is Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro. I like it because it is justice-centered and Kingdom-of-God-focused. It is also contemporary, has special insights on each day, and schedules time for praying for others and silence for meditation within its structure. All in all, it appears to be an awesome resource.

I know some don't like the recitation of prayers, because it feels stiff or formal, or insincere, but I've never had a problem using these prayers. In fact, I have found that they often give voice to longings and emotions, and thoughts that I struggle to convey to the Lord.

I am committing to it for 30 days, and will report on my experiences here on my blog. We'll see!